Lin Wan, a PhD in agricultural science, is transported into the body of a princess sent away for a political marriage and weds the notorious Prince of Zhenbei. Faced with a barren fief stretching to the horizon and a warning to “keep your head down and wait to die,” she pulls out her Modern Agricultural Technology Handbook instead.
She grows a thousand jin of grain in saline soil and weaves thousands of bolts of brocade from wool. She builds reservoirs, opens schools, and establishes cooperatives, turning refugees into artisans and giving women the chance to hold up half the sky. The northern frontier transforms from a wasteland into a paradise beyond the passes.
When enemy cavalry and imperial envoys arrive at the gates at the same time, one wants to seize the grain, while the other wants to seize power. Lin Wan stands atop the newly built city wall, with overflowing granaries behind her and the people united and armed. The Prince of Zhenbei stands beside her with his sword in hand. “Anyone who lays a hand on my wife’s life’s work is making an enemy of the 300,000 people and soldiers of the northern frontier.”
